THE BOSTONCONSULTING GROUPLEADERSHIPAWARDCarol Liao is a Senior Partner of TheBoston Consulting Group and, since2013, the Managing Director of itsGreater China operation. Growingup in China, her path to BCG’s HongKong office was anything but typical.

A graduate from Beijing University
in the early 1990s, Liao says there
was no concept of career planning in
China. The Chinese government was
responsible for giving every graduate
a job, so as graduation neared, she
was assigned to a large state-owned
enterprise, and her job was going to
be an extension of what she studied in
school—commercial law.

P&G held a job fair at BeijingUniversity around the same time,which Liao attended when curiositygot the best of her. “To my surprise,they extended me an offer. I acceptedit because, being born and raised inBeijing, I wanted to see more of theoutside world,” Liao says. “My familyand friends couldn’t believe I gave upan ‘iron rice bowl’ job—in my fieldno less—to “go sell shampoo” inGuangzhou. Looking back, P&G gaveme invaluable training and experiencefor which I am very grateful.”She was still restless a few yearslater when an experienced consultantsuggested consulting. Liao interviewedmany places and chose BCG “because theinterviewers seemed very knowledgeableand personable. I liked the companyculture very much,” she says.

Within BCG, she has also led BCG’s
Consumer and Retail practice in Asia
and has experience advising both
multinational corporations and Asian
companies on an array of strategy,
operational and organizational issues.
She is a coauthor of the BCG book
The $10 Trillion Prize: Capturing the
Newly Affluent in China and India.

Although she admits she didn’t reallyknow what she was getting into, she’sdiscovered that the process of learningand problem solving is what she enjoysmost. “That is what has kept me inthis industry for more than 20 years,”she says. “Another thing I really enjoyabout the work is that you come intocontact with incredible young talent. Ihave the opportunity to work with newrecruits every day and see them grow,bringing new ideas and insights intoour industry. This is something thatgives me tremendous satisfaction.”Another thing that gives hersatisfaction is following in thefootsteps of the other outstandingBCG women who have won a WomenLeaders in Consulting award. “Ourgoal is to provide the very bestsolutions and service to our clients,developed and delivered by a diverse,multi-talented team,” Liao says. “Thisaward is a collective achievementand a clear signal to talented andambitious young women and men thatgender and birthplace are no barriersto a successful career at BCG.”

What is yourgreatest personalor professionalachievement?

LIAO: “I often get a sense of accomplishment from the recognition that our
clients receive on their performance improvement. But since I’ve been
responsible for BCG Greater China, my greatest sense of achievement has
come from the opportunity to see many young consultants become partners
and experts. I’m very proud to have watched 15 of my Chinese colleagues
become BCG partners over the past three years, nine of whom are very
accomplished women. In the firm’s annual employee survey, Greater China
boasts the highest score by a wide margin on effort to recruit and retain women.”